Philadelphia Takes 72 Police Officers Off the Streets for ‘Offensive’ Social Media Posts

The City of Philadelphia has taken 72 police officers off the streets over “offensive” social media posts they allegedly made.

“We are equally as disgusted by many of the posts that you saw, and in many cases, the rest of the nation saw,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross told the city, according to NPR.

The department noted that “several dozen” officers will face disciplinary action, and some will likely be fired.

The commissioner also noted that the removal of the officers was the largest number ever removed at one time from a single investigation into police conduct.

“We’ve talked about from the outset how disturbing, how disappointing and upsetting these posts are,” Ross said. “They will undeniably impact police-community relations.”

The disciplinary action comes after a group of Philly lawyers launched “The Plain View Project,” which combed through social media to find out what police officers say on their Facebook accounts.

“The Plain View Project is a database of public Facebook posts and comments made by current and former police officers from several jurisdictions across the United States,” the webpage of the project explains.

Philly is not the only city affected by the posts turned up by the project.

The City of Dallas, Texas, also announced that it is reviewing the posts dug up by the project.

Police departments in Lake County, Florida, and St. Louis, Missouri, are also reviewing the posts found by the project.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.